Enough hidden salt in shopping baskets for 130 bags of ready salted

Mark Waghorn

Alarming amounts of salt are lurking in our shopping baskets - and it’s costing thousands of lives a year, warns new research.

The study shows major brands are at fault with Galaxy Ultimate Marshmallow Hot Chocolate, for instance, saltier than seawater!

A product survey compared two shopping baskets each containing similar everyday food items - but with different amounts of salt.

The saltiest basket had 107g of salt compared to one with the same categories of foods - with just 47g.

The staggering 60g difference between the ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ baskets is equivalent to 130 bags of Walkers Ready Salted crisps.

Out of 28 food types analysed by CASH (Consensus Action on Salt and Health) only ‘bread rolls’ has so far met the government’s 2017 reduction target.

Baxters Chef Selections Cullen Skink (1.1g salt/100g) with more than one and a half times the target for soup, and Aldi The Fishmonger Piri Piri Smoked Mackerel Fillets (3.8g salt/serving) with four times more for fish-based meals, were also among the worst offenders.

Galaxy Ultimate Marshmallow Hot Chocolate (0.6g salt per serving) is saltier than a bag of crisps, with 16 times more than the target for beverages.

Other culprits include Quorn 4 Southern Fried Chicken Burgers (2g/100) when the aim is to get it down to 1.25.

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference West Country Farmhouse Butter with Cornish Sea Salt has 2.13g/100 - with the goal 1.68 n by the end of the year.

CASH is urging Public Health England (PHE) to immediately ensure the 2017 targets are met and that they urgently set mandatory targets for 2020, as asked for by many leading supermarkets.

Chairman Professor Graham MacGregor, of Queen Mary University of London, said: “This is a national scandal.

“The UK was leading the world in salt reduction, but PHE are doing nothing to ensure that the 2017 salt targets are met.”

“The findings from our FoodSwitch shopping basket survey are alarming and we are shocked to see many food manufacturers and retailers are still failing to meet the salt reduction targets, despite having had years to work towards them.

“We congratulate the other, more responsible manufacturers that have successfully achieved them, or are on track to meet them by the end of the year - which shows it is possible.

“With only nine months to go, action must be taken now.”

Nutritionist Sarah Alderton said the new and improved CASH FoodSwitch UK app will help consumers make healthier and more informed choices when shopping by showing traffic light colour labelling and recommending healthier alternatives.

Added Prof MacGregor: “PHE should seize this opportunity and ensure the 2017 targets are met, as well as setting new mandatory targets for 2020, to ensure we continue to lead the world and save the maximum number of lives.”

FoodSwitch UK allows users to scan the barcode of over 100,000 packaged food and drinks sold across major UK supermarkets using their smartphone camera.

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: “The food industry has reduced the amount of salt found in our foods by 11% in recent years, which is encouraging progress.

“We know there is more to do. This is why we are talking to retailers, manufacturers, and the eating out of home sector on how they go further and faster to reaching the 2017 salt reduction targets.”